Automatic blue printing and finishing machine



Aug. 29,-1933. H. H. SULLIVAN AUTOMATIC BLUE PRINTING AND FINISHING MACHINE Filed 001:. 21, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l gwa 5zZ/Zziacu2 m. I

K INVENTOR ($4 ATTOR N EY Aug. 299 1933. SULLWAN I 1199249758 AUTOMATIC BLUE PRINTING AND FINISHQENG LIAGEHNE filed. Oct. 193]. f2 Sheets-Sheet 2 iNVENTOR I B .xfwe 5 12230472 A HORNE to the cylinder 5 on a plurality of spaced endless.

belts 9- which hold the work in positive contact with and constitute friction driving means for the cylinder. These belts 9, only one of which is shown, engage under a driving roller 10 and travel therefrom in the direction of the arrow A to the cylinder 5, with the work interposed between them and the cylinder, thence upwardly, rearwardly and downwardly in contact with I rollers ll, l2, l3, l4, l5, and under a tension roller 16 to a rollerl'l adjacent and in rear of the driivng "roller 10, the latter being driven through a variable speed mechanism indicated at 18 and which includes a driving belt 19 connected to a motor 20, the connection between the mechanism 18 and the roller 10 not being shown as it forms no'part of the invention.

The tracings ll drop from the cylinder 5 onto a tray 2]. from which they are removed by the operator, while the continuous sheet of sensitized paper is carried from the roller 11 again upwardly by the belts 9 over the rollers 12 and i3 and extended to a roller 22 above and in rear of the printing machine proper. Thereafter the paper is caused to travel through the finisher, which is a complete unit connected to and placed in baclr of the printer.

In passing through the finisher the exposed sensitized paper is fed downwardly through a clear water flood bath projected from a pipe 23, and then through a clear water spray projected from a pipe 23 adjacent a guide roller 22. The

exposed sensitized paper then travels downwardlyto the washer and is carried horizontally alternately over and under a series of rollers 24 and under a series of pipes 25 alternating with the rollers 24 and from which the paper receives,

From the pipe 26 the paper continues to travel upward, thence over a roller 29 and vertically downwardly to a winding up device indicated generally by the numeral 30, or, if desired, to a trimming table, not shown, drying of the paper being effected during its travel from the final water spray 26 to the winding up device 30 or trimming table. The paper is guided in said vertical downward travel by means of a series of horizontal rods or rollers 29*. The means for drying the paper is the particularly novel feature of the invention and will now be described.

The roller 29 is mounted in brackets 31 carried by the upper edge of a wall 32 extending upward from the washer frame 33 which supports the basin 28. Chambers or compartments 34 and 35 are formed on either sideoi this center partition wall 32 by a housing comprising outer side walls 36 and end walls 37, the two compartments com-' ber 32 also forming an outer wall for the lower part of the compartment 35. The compartment 34 is closed at the bottom by a wall 38 having an elongated opening 39 for receiving the paper 4 which travels upward through this compartment, over the roller 29 and downward through the compartment 35, the latter being closed at the bottom by a wall portion 40 slotted at 41 for the paper to pass therethrough. The innersections of the bottoms 38 and 40, formedby their respective slots 39 and 41, may have hinge connection, as indicated at 42, with the wall 32, these sections being lowered to facilitate threading the paper through the drier.

At one end of the printing cylinder 5 is a centrifugal exhaust fan 43, driven, in this instance by a motor 44. This fan creates a current of air through the cylinder for the purpose of ventilation, the air absorbing a good portion of the heat generated by the lamps 6. To discharge this dry hot air into the work-room would make working conditions uncomfortable, and therefore it has hitherto been conducted into a chimney flue. To the end of putting this heated air to work as the drying medium for the paper, and thus eliminating the necessity of using other means of drying, such as gas or electricity, the fan 43 is caused to discharge into a. conduit 45 which leads into a housing 46 enclosing the coils 7 of the hereinabcve mentioned rheostats, the other end of the housing communicating with a conductor pipe 47 which extends rearwardly, then upwardly and discharges into a duct 48 extending horizontally across the bottom of the air intake chamber or compartment 35 of the drier. This duct 48 has an elongated slot opening 49 through which the heated air passes into the compartment 35. Rising in the compartment 35, as indicated by the arrows, the air passes over the roller 29, then downward in the compartment 35, from which it is conducted through an outlet pipe 52 leading from one end oi the duct 51 to a chimney flue or elsewhere.

Although any suitable means may be employed for removing the air heated from the light source of the printing member and conducting it to the drier, I prefer to use the means disclosed in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, that is, the exhaust fan 43 which not only draws air through the cylinder for the purpose of ventilation, but acts, also, as a means for driving such air to and through'the drier.

The walls 36 of the drier are preferably separated along their vertical centers and hinged adjacent the end walls 37 to provide doors 53 which permit access to the paper so that it may be threaded through the openings at the bottoms of the two compartments 34 and 35 and through the drier, and also that the paper may be examined. Ii desirable, one or more or all of the doors 53 may be provided with windows 54 whereby the operator may view the condition of the prints on the paper passing through the drier.

Briefly summarized, the invention comprises, in combination with the printing and washing apparatus 0! a blue printing and finishing Inaable conductors between the cylinder and drier including a exhaust fan which draws the air through the printing cylinder and then forcesit through suitto the drier, from which it escapes, after passing over the washed paper, into a chimney flue or elsewhere. Furthermore, the resistance coils of the rheostats employed in the printing machine are also used in giving additional heat to the air after it leaves the printing cylinder and while being conducted to the drier, Thus, heat that would otherwise be wasted is used for a purpose which results in a considerable financial saving in. both the equipment and oper-' ation of a printing and finishing machine. It will also be observed that the air enters the drier at substantially the point where the papers leaves it and is discharged therefrom near the inlet for the paper, and that the passage of the heated air through the drier is in the reverse direction to that traversed by the paper; Any suitable means may be provided for conditioning the heated air as to humidity and maintaining the air passing through the drier at the desired humidity.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine of the character described, a drier in which is an air chamber having normal. stationary walls and through which the paper is fed, an air duct extending along one end of said chamber having a slot opening in the wall of the air duct for the inlet of air to the chamber, and an air duct along the opposite end of the chamber having an opening in its wall for the discharge of air from said chamber, said chamber having openings adjacent said second and first named ducts, respectively, for the passage of the paper into and out of the chamber.

' 2. In a-machine of the character described, a drier in which is an air chamber having an inlet and an outlet through which the paper is fed, an inlet for heated air, anda discharge opening for the air, ap'rinting cylinder, a washing apparatus the dryer, a conduit leading from the cylinder to the air inlet of said drier 'andhaving a discharge slot extending along one end of, the drier for a distance substantially equal to the width of the paper, and means for forcing air from the cylinder through said conduit and said chamber.

3. In a machine of the character described, a.

vertical center wall, substantially vertical side and end walls forming vertical chambers one each side of the center wall, and

- closures for the bottoms of said'chambers having openings through which the paper is fed, the two chambers being in communication at the top of said center wall, one of said chambers having an inlet for heated air and the other a discharge opening for the air.

4. In a machine of the character described, a housing forming a vertically extending chamber, a longitudinally extending vertical partition dividing the chamber into two compartments having communication at the top of thepartition, the bottom of each compartment having an opening through which the paper is fed, a roller at the top of said partition over which the paper engages, a duct extending across the bottom of one compartment having an opening for the inlet of air to the compartment, a duct along the bottom of the other compartment having an opening for the discharge of air from such com partment, the paper entering the drier through the bottom of the compartment from which the heated air is discharged.

5. In a machine of the characterdescribed, a housing forming a vertically extending chamber,

a vertical partition deviding said chamber longitudinally into two compartments communicating with each other at the topof said partition, a roller at the top of the partition, the two compartments having openings at the bottoms thereof through which the paper is fed, such paper travelling upward in one compartment, over said roller, and downward in the other compartment;-v

a printing cylinder, a lamp in said cylinder, an air conductor leading from said cylinder and discharging into one of said compartments, the other compartment having an opening for the discharge of air, and an exhaust fan located at one end .of the cylinder for drawing heated air from said cylinder and forcing it through the come partments of said drier, the passage of air through the drier being in a reverse direction to that of the paper.

6. A machine of the character described constructed in accordance with claim 5 and inClud ing doors in the wall of said housing for the pur pose specified.

7. A machine of the character described constructed in accordance with claim 5 and including resistance coils housed within said air conductor, whereby the air is heated from two sources before reaching the paper. a

8. In an automatic printing and finishing machine, means for feeding a continuous sheet of sensitized paper, a printing member, electric lamps therefor having a rheostat, means for washing the paper after leaving the printing member, a drier including an air chamber through which the paper is fed, and means for heating air by the heat of the resistances of the rheostats andfor conducting such heated air to through which the paper is fed, a housing for the rheostat for heating air bythe resistances of the said rheostat, and an air conduit leading from the said housing to the air chamber.

10. In an automatic printing and finishing machine, means for feeding a continuous sheet of sensitized paper, a printing member, electric lamps therefor having a rheostat, means for washing the paper after leaving the printing member, a drier including an air chamber through which the paper is fed, a housing for the rheostat for heating air by the resistances of the said rheostat, an air conduit leading from the said housing to the air chamber, and a fan for forcing the heated air from the said housing through the conduit and through the air chamber.

11. In an automatic printing and finishing machine, means for feeding a continuous sheet of sensitized paper, a printing member, electric lamps therefor having a rheostat, means for washing the paper after leaving the printing member, a drier including an air chamber through which the paper is fed, a housing for the rheostat for heating air by the resistances 1 machine, means'for feeding a continuous sheet of-sensitized paper, a printing cylinder, lamps mounted within said cylinder, means for washing the paper after leaving the printing cylinder, a drier having an air chamber through which the paper is fed, an air conduit leading from said cylinder to said drier, and an exhaust fan located at one end of the cylinder for creating a current of air through the cylinder for heating the air and for forcing the heated air through the conduit to the drier.

13. In a machine of the character described, a printing cylinder, means for feeding a continuous sheet of sensitized paper to the printing cylinder, a drier for the paper, lamps within the cylinder having resistance coils, a conduit enclosing the resistance coils and leading from the cylinder to the drier, and means for causing a current of air to pass through the cylinder and through the conduit to the drier whereby the air is heated from two sources before reaching the paper.

14. In a machine of the character described, a printing cylinder, means for feeding a continuous sheet of sensitized paper to the printing cylinder, a drier for the paper, lamps within the cylinder having resistance coils, a conduit enclosing the resistance coils and leading from the cylinder to the drier, and an exhaust fan located at one end oi. the cylinder for producing a current of air through the cylinder to heat the air and for torcing the heated air through the conduit past the resistance cells to the drier, whereby the air is heated from two sources before reaching the paper.

15. In an automatic printing and finishing ma-' chine, means for feeding a continuous sheet 01. sensitized paper, a printing member, electric lamps therefor having a rheostat, means for washing the paper after leaving the printing member, a drier including an air chamber through which the paper is fed, a housing for the rheostat, an air conduit leading from the printing member to the drier and including the housing of the rheostat, and a fan for causing a current of air to pass over the said lamps for heating the air and for forcing the heated air through the conduit past the rheostat to the drier, whereby the air is heated from two sources before reaching the paper.

HARRY HEWES SULLIVAN. 

